My Baby is Gonna Be Two Next Week

... and while I haven't been much of a blogger this year, I've spent a lot of time being a dad. And I'm having a fairly typical stay at home parent problem. Which is that I long for adult company. But I can't exactly join a MOPS group, because the M stands for Mothers. I'm not 100% sure what goes on at these meetings, but I'm fairly certain a man would really wreck the group dynamic.

Since being a Stay At Home Dad (SAHD) seems so natural to me, I'm sometimes surprised when I lift my head up and realize that what I do is still pretty unusual in our society. I looked around today and couldn't find any dad's groups in my area. The most common advice for me in this area is "Start One", but starting social groups in not really in my personality type. Anyway, I'll dwell more on this later.

Yes, Katie will be two next week. It's absolutely amazing, as my memories of her clinging to my finger the day she was born are still fresh and vivid in my mind. She's quite a bit bigger, at 3'2" and 38 lbs., and she has consistently amazed me with what she picks up without being explicitly taught. She has a great sense of humor. She's using new words every day, and sometimes I don't even know where she heard the word or phrase. She has a very strong personality, and I have begun instituting time outs for things like climbing the up on the coffee table. But she is so easily self-entertained I wonder how effective they will be.

We are having a Little Einsteins theme for her party. She loves the music and the patting and clapping in that show. I let the TV thing get out of control though, so I am really dialing back on what and when she can watch. She has lots of fun at parks, so we are doing that more often. She likes the swing more the slide, and the dirt/sand/wood chips more than anything. And she still loves looking at books for hours. I am so excited to she what she does in this next year. Hopefully one thing will be sleep in.
And if you know of and SAHD groups in the IE, let me know.

------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

7 Months Later....

My last post was for Katie's birthday, and this one comes a few days after she turned 19 months old. And, I apologize. And it's not that she hasn't been interesting in the last seven months, it's simply that I haven't been able to find the energy to post. She's walking. She's talking. She's running me ragged. She's three feet tall and 35 pounds (that's an "average" three you old, in case you didn't know). She can reach all the tables, all the door knobs, and most of the shelves in the house. She still spouts a lot of gibberish, but she'll say things like "Daddy? Where are you?". She exclaims "It's a Jahrap!" when she sees her favorite stuffed giraffe. When she sees me, she'll say "Hi da-da da-da!". When Harry comes in the room "It's a cat! Meow!". She currently imitates the Cookie Monster, saying "Cookie!" And pretending to chomp on something. And, when she's in a good mood, she'll count to 13.

She's terrified of Santa. I mean He really freaked her out, unlike the Easter Bunny who she thought was a giant stuffed animal. So, we didn't force her to sit on his lap. We were at an event at the Norco library, and Santa was super cool. He was friendly to her for about an hour, waving and tempting her with a candy cane. She finally warmed up to him enough we got a photo of her and Ann standing next to Santa.

We have her in Mommy (or Daddy) and me swimming lessons. Well, calling them "swimming" lessons might be premature. Perhaps "Introduction to Swimming Concepts". She loves the water. Holds her breath well. Enjoys splashing.

And... now you're caught up. I'll try to be a bit more diligent about posting in the future.

------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

Happy Birthday, Katie!

It's so hard to believe it's been a whole year, but Katie turned one year old. We had a party last Saturday, and my mom, dad, and sister were down from Washington State. We also had Uncle Brom and Aunt Lia and their kids and grandkids from Holland. The Elmo themed party was a lot of fun. Katie's a big fan of the little red guy. We had way too much food as about 10 people we were expecting didn't show. Anyone for left overs?
We got Katie the cutest chair. She loves it! I'll throw in a pic of it below.



------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

Cosmopolitan Man? Maybe more like Neapolitan Man...

So, I read other Stay at Home Dad (SAHD) blogs, and a chain of events lead me here
Admittedly I had never read Penelope Trunks blog before, so I can't comment on who she is as a person, but this particular post is praising a SAHD she's been corresponding with for his honesty as he relates the tale of his affair.
This guy's story seems disingenuous to me. For one, if you talk to a SAHD, it only takes a couple of moments before we start talking about the kids. Men are worse than women about this, because we tend to define ourselves by our jobs, and in this case, our job is the kids. (Yes, generalization here, but it's at least anecdotally accurate).
Now, I'm sure people out there have affairs, and that some stay at home men indulge in this behavior, but honestly, I don't even think about it. One, I love my wife and am completely satisfied and secure with her. Two, I left a job I really loved to stay with Katie, because she is so important to me. Why would I screw up not only my life and my wife's life, but also her life with something like that. I'm not self centered enough for that. (And I'm pretty self centered.)
But I guess, judging by Ms. Trunks post, I'm just not being honest. Actually, it makes me really angry. Women have been staying home since men started going off to work, and no one accuses them as a group of being weak willed philanderers. But apparently men cannot find enough worth in being house husbands to keep it in our pants. And, unless he admit that, Ms. trunks apparently thinks we are liars.
I'm proud of what I do as a dad. Katie is perpetually happy, which is my greatest life achievement. I find time for the gym more than ever. I'm a lousy house keeper, but I'm a really good cook. And, I keep up with my guitar, which also helps keep me happy.
I think the SAHD gig is a good one. Yeah, there are rough spots. I miss socializing with co-workers sometimes. But as far as self worth goes, there's plenty, and my daughter is amazing. I wouldn't trade it.

------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

She's done it again!!!!!

Yes, my little Katie. Won't crawl. Not an inch. Won't even sit up on her own. But, yes, she can pull to standing. Several times today actually. She's on her own timetable for sure.

------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

More Playhouse Disney

Well, a funny thing happened to me today. My somewhat massive post about preschool music attracted the attention of a publicist for Playhouse Disney. This was staggering for me, as I though only my parent friends were reading this blog. So, she read the post and suggested I check out The Imagination Movers. If The Wiggles are your kids first rock band, The Imagination Movers are your kids first Alt-Rock band. And admittedly, the tunes meet the criteria, which is "good enough for me not to hate it", and "safe enough for her to hear it". I'd be embarrassed to be listening to it without Katie around. But it's catchy, and the most important thing is, I wouldn't be embarrassed to be listening to it with Katie around, which I can't say for most of the music of my teens and twenties. I've just noticed, while they ALL contain music, of the 24 "shows" on Playhouse Disney, a full third of them are explicitly ABOUT music. I guess it is a pretty big part of your preschoolers life. Of course, Katie is a long way from being a preschooler. You be stretching credibility to call her a toddler at this point.

Anyway, since I've apparently become a spokesperson for Playhouse Disney, I thought I'd point out that there IS a section for parents on their website. And it actually does have a useful thing or two in it.
------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

The Entertainment Red Shift of the Stay At Home Parent

I had no idea just a few months ago what serious competition there was in the pre-school rock arena. The most exposed to this thing I had been previously was getting the Fraggle Rock theme stuck in my head (although to be honest, I watched Jabber Jaws and Josie and the Pussycats as a kid).I'd seen commercials for Kids Bop and stuff, but I really had no idea.

I thought I really disliked the Wiggles until I experienced the horror of The Doodlebops. Now the Wiggles don't seem so bad. I had barely heard of Yo Gabba Gabba (but then I'm more of a Playhouse Disney guy) and then I get start seeing Choo Choo Soul. The vintage gear guy in me likes Dan Zanes House Party, but I don't think emulating Keith Richards is the way to get me to let my kid watch you (and somebody get that man a comb). But I'll tell you what I do like. I like the band in Bunnytown, and I like the Happy Monster Band. And by like, I meant it doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out.

When I was first staying at home, I was watching my kind of TV. Law and Order, Battlestar, CSI... But as Katie gets older, if the thing is going to be on at all, I'd rather her stare at closer to age appropriate material. The thing is, as a parent, you watch this stuff, and it kinda sucks you in (because that's what it's DESIGNED to do) and next thing you know, you know all the words to "Hop Up, Jump In" from Handy Manny and the "Think, Think, Think!" song from Tigger and Pooh. And I say that I'm not going to get hooked on this junk, and then I go watch Happy Monster Band videos on You Tube. Between that and having had Laurie Berkner in the CD player of the Kia for, like, six months now, I wonder if I will ever have grown up entertainment in my life again.

If ever I needed a good Dr. Who marathon, surely it is now.

------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

Triumph of the Will (and the wallet)

Moving has enabled us to cobble together an actual nursery for Katie. I'm strangely proud of this, as when we first had her, the idea of her having her own room was a little far fetched. So, wanting to share, I set up the tripod and my little Canon Powershot A75. It's my old camera, relegated now to being the diaper bag camera, it doesn't get used much as even my phone comes close enough to it in quality and tops it convenience. Still, what it does that my new Kodak Z712is doesn't is it lets you take as many photos as you want in the panorama assist mode. So I believe this is about 17 or 18 photos stitched together into a 360º panorama of Katie's room. It was actually about 375 degrees as I started and ended with the door, but it looked funny having the door in there twice, so I cropped it off the right side.
Anyway, the last piece was the book shelf that sits on her dresser. I built that a couple of nights ago.

Oh, and I really don't care for The Wiggles.

------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

God help me, it's already started. (Katie update)

Yep, that's my girl. She takes after her daddy, that's for sure. Trying to get at my laptop, my phone, my guitar, my pencils... what ever daddy likes, she likes.
She had her first real cold a couple of weeks ago and it was brutal. She was stuffed up and would only sleep on my shoulder, which meant I had to sleep propped on the couch. It took me a couple of nights to get the hang of it, really only sleeping once pure total exhaustion hit. We handled it all pretty well except the 103° temperature. That sent me to urgent care where they pointed out we had her bundled up pretty good. Some Tylenol and a onesie cured all that.
She still only has the two bottom teeth. She refuses to crawl, but can scoot pretty good. Her hair has pretty much filled in all over her head. She's so tall!! It's scary how fast she's growing. well, that's about it for now. Soon as she does any real crawling, I'll freak and post a video.


------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com

Over 1000 and going strong

I have actually passed 1000 photos of Katie, starting with about 5 sonogram pictures all the way to what I shot today. I would be devastated if I lost them, and so $25 bucks a year for a Flickr pro account to back them up, along with some 10,000 photos I have accumulated since getting my first digital camera back in 2000, seems like a HECK of a deal.

So, I am in the process of trying to upload and organize literally thousands of photos, some 10% of which I shot of my daughter in the last 10 months. And of those, there are about 50 that no one can see but me. Why? Let me tell you.

I may be a dummy, but I ain't no fool. This are the interwebitubes!!! And I have discovered that sadly, pedophiles are very good at combing the various Flickr groups people have innocently formed to post pictures of their beautiful children.

Now, refuse to live with the paranoia that some sicko might catch a glimpse of my kid. Still, I'm a prudent sort of person, so I made private any pictures where she is not fully clothed. So, any of you that feel like looking at just a TON of Katie pictures, feel free. But, if you want to see those truly adorable pictures of her splashing in the tub, or the picture of her birth, thanks to the sickos, you're going to have to sign up for a Flickr account and have me add you as friends or family.

I guess it just makes me sad. I am so proud of her. I want to share her with the world. And instead, I'm worrying about what some perver might think.
------------------------------
And now for a diaper change....

Brian
muse.platypionline.com